Sixth season of Art Basel bows today

December 5, 2007|By Emma Trelles Arts Writer

Now in its sixth and sprawling year, Art Basel Miami Beach opens today and runs through Sunday in South Florida. More than 40,000 visitors from all over the world are expected to attend the vast lineup of exhibits, events and satellite fairs aimed at showing and hawking what dealers tout as the finest of 20th and 21st century art.

The main hub of the fair is at the Miami Beach Convention Center, where more than 200 galleries will display works by 2,000 international artists. Across the street, the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens will host video and sound lounges, as well as the Cartier dome, an elaborate display of jewels from the French jeweler and watch company. More art is found in 20 shipping containers at Collins Park, along with installations, performances and a homage to skate culture, complete with skateboard-inspired images and riders careening across a 70-foot ramp.

Miami Beach, along with the Wynwood and Design Districts in downtown Miami, will host a slew of parallel art fairs, including the homegrown Art Miami, which switched from its typical January run to dovetail with Art Basel and its power to draw buyers. Other fairs include Aqua Art Miami, Nada, Scope, Flow and the AIPAD Photography Show. Fresh exhibits are slated to debut at the Rubell Family Collection and the Margulies Collection, which reopens after a summer-long renovation of its 45,000-square-foot space in the Wynwood district.

INFORMATIONAL BOX:

Art Basel Online

For information about Art Basel Miami Beach, tickets and peripheral events and exhibits, visit Sun-sentinel.com/artbasel. For a daily take on events by Arts Writer Emma Trelles, visit Sun-Sentinel.com/arts.